Contents

• Contents
  • Standard Practice
• Best Methodology
• Problem of Active Recall and Spaced Repetition
  • Why does Active Recall Work?
• 2 Basic Steps
  • 1. Principle of Encoding
  • 2. Encoding Tolerance
    • Techniques:
• Mind-Map
  • GRINDE Map
    • Grouped
    • Reflective
    • Interconnected
    • Non-verbal
    • Directional $\bigstar$
    • Emphasized

Standard Practice

1. Context broadening: Relating a theoretical concept with a real life story or incident. Having an example or event visual in your mind.
2. Emotional implication: Getting emotionally invested with the topic, knowing what would be the future use.
3. Making logical jumps in Between topics.
4. Playing around with the topic.
5. Approach questions
6. Spaced repetition
7. Creating false deadlines to keep things neat.

Is there a better way?

Source: Justin Sung, MD YouTube

Best Methodology

1. Divide the object into three categories:
   • Source Material
   • Harder (skipped) Concepts
   • Notes
2. Read through the source material. If difficult material that takes 2+ minutes to understand appears, or it seems like material that you feel you will just need to memorize, add that to the notes for harder concepts and continue onward to what you can understand.
3. Pause and reconsider the material you understand. Try to do a few things:
   • Project forward what the material might suggest
   • speed through simple words and slow down for complicated ideas
   • use sub-vocalizing for said complicated ideas
   • take those pauses!
4. Once you reach the end, go back around to the harder concepts and see if you can understand them better knowing the surrounding, more easily understood content.
5. If you still cannot understand the material, then add them to flash cards.

Problem of Active Recall and Spaced Repetition

Source: Youtube

• Studying $\neq$ learning!
• Cognitive Load means you are engaging high-efficiency pathways
  • i.e. feeling confused
• Correct encoding is difficult!
  • Too much cognitive load can mean low encoding
• Passive learning: obtaining information from low load, low encoding, and low learning
• Personal note: perhaps when it feels like your brain is actually contracting like a muscle (blood pressure changes?)
• Desirable Difficulty: brain is only being used effectively when using a suitable amount of discomfort
• Retrieval Techniques are easier to learn

Why does Active Recall Work?

• it mitigates the functional forgetting that occurs with normal learning, such that the forgetting curve gets more steep
• at the end of the week, revision solidifies it further
• but: this method has diminishing returns!!
  • Success bias
  • Survivor bias

2 Basic Steps

Source Youtube

1. Principle of Encoding

• Orders of Learning
  • Higher-order
    • signed by explaining complicated concepts simply
  • Lower-order
  • Bloom’s Taxonomy (descending)
    1. create
    2. evaluate
    3. analyze
    4. apply
    5. understand
    6. remember
• Sensory information should be encoded straight into long-term memory! (want to jump straight to applying)

Solo Taxonomy: implementing the bigger picture activates higher-order learning–relate information to each other and the bigger picture!

• Aim for higher-order learning early, and early, i.e.:
  • Organize ideas in the bigger picture
  • Where does it connect
  • How does it fit
  • Optimizing organization

2. Encoding Tolerance

• Become more familiar with training with encoding
• Linear notes are not effective: like here! Which means offloading work to low-load
• Practice holding off on taking notes and ask yourself how it relates to the bigger picture

Techniques:

• Interleaving
• Microlearning
• Revision
• Mind Maps
• Chunk Mapping

If you’re not proficient, consider taking it down a notch with lower learning then moving it upward towards higher-learning

Mind-Map

Summary of Benefits:

• Effective, enhances creativity, improves critical thinking, and increases metacognition (but demotivating)

GRINDE Map

• Grouped, Reflective, Interconnected, Non-verbal, Directional

Grouped

• organization of data into groups

Reflective

• paper notes should be reflective of mind (mirroring!)

Interconnected

• isolated knowledge is weak. Connect the ideas!

Non-verbal

• being creative with representing ideas contributes to retention of ideas and promotion of creativity

Directional $\bigstar$

• Create a flow of ideas and compositions which can strengthen the cause and effect relationship or logic between ideas
  • Higher level of learning!
  • A clean organized mind produces a clean mind-map

Emphasized

• Low cognitive load used on technique used on high cognitive learning
• using word art can enhance points
• notes should reflect the learning process in the head!